(Minghui.org) Mr. Wang Xiaoming started his uphill battle to get his job back as soon as he was fired by his employer, the Xinbin County Police Department in Liaoning Province, on July 23, 2021 for his faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Shortly after he lost his job, Mr. Wang, 52, filed a motion to reconsider his case with the Xinbin County Police Department, which forwarded it to the Fushun City Police Department. The latter agency then transferred his case to the Xinbin County Commission for Discipline Inspection, which upheld his employer’s decision to fire him.
Mr. Wang appealed with the Xinbin County Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Xinbin County government, the Xinbin County Organization Department and the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, but to no avail.
In March 2022, Mr. Wang wrote to the Xinbin County government, requesting it to publicize the reason and the legal basis for firing him, as well as the names and titles of the individuals who made the decision.
According to “Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on the Disclosure of Government Information,” “In order to ensure that citizens, legal persons and other organizations obtain government information in accordance with the law, enhance transparency of the work of government, promote administration in accordance with the law, and bring into full play the role of government information in serving the people’s production and livelihood and their economic and social activities, these Regulations are hereby formulated.”
Mr. Wang argued that the unlawful termination could cost him about 1 million yuan of financial loss (his annual salary was 100,000 yuan and he was fired at 51, nine years before his legal retirement age of 60).
The county government replied on March 29, saying that “Internal affairs information of administrative organs, such as information on human resource management, logistics management, and internal work processes, can be exempted from becoming public information.”
Mr. Wang applied for administrative reconsideration with the Fushun City government in early April, but the latter refused to accept it and returned it to the Xinbin County government on April 20. The Xinbin County government directed Mr. Wang to the Xinbin County Justice Bureau, which also told Mr. Wang that they wouldn’t release information about their “human resource management” and that the decision to fire him fell into the category of “human resource management.”
Ms. Wang also requested administrative litigation supervision with the Qingyuan County Procuratorate in September 2022, requesting it to investigate his employer’s unlawful termination. The procuratorate never responded.
Mr. Wang filed an administrative litigation with the Qingyuan County Court in July 2022, still demanding that the Xinbin County government publicize the information he requested.
The judge ruled to not hear his case on September 28. Mr. Wang argued that he was demanding that the government publicize the legal basis for firing him, but the judge denied his case, with the excuse that the court didn’t have an obligation to hear the case about his dismissal.
Mr. Wang filed an appeal with the Qingyuan County Court, which again declined to hear his case and sent him a file about “Remedies for Dismissal of Civil Servants.”
Mr. Wang continued to appeal with the Fushun City Intermediate Court, still demanding that the Xinbin County government publicize the legal basis for the decision to fire him.
The higher court held a hearing of Mr. Wang’s case on March 14, 2023. No representative for the Xinbin County Police Department attended the session. But several officials from the Xinbin County government showed up and answered the judge’s questions, such as why they were involved in Mr. Wang’s dismissal and whether they had more supporting evidence. The judge also asked Mr. Wang why he requested the publication of the information.
Two days later, the judge ruled to uphold the lower court’s original verdict, claiming that the government didn’t have to publicize the requested information, because firing Mr. Wang fell into the scope of human resource management of the government.
Liu Hong (柳红), presiding judge, Fushun City Intermediate Court: +86-18641382907Tian Lina (田丽娜), judge, Fushun City Intermediate Court: +86-15641389253Yu Changchun (于长春), president, Fushun City Intermediate Court
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Police Officer Fired for His Faith in Falun Gong
Police Officer Wang Xiaoming from Xinbin County, Liaoning Province Persecuted for His Belief
Two Police Officers Persecuted For Practicing Falun Gong (Fushun City, China)